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3. Date of lease or grant (if any).

4.

Number of years in occupation.

5.

Description of land.

6.

Dimensions of land.

7.

Situation of land.

When these schedules are distributed to a village, any person who claims land as his property must fill up a schedule and bring it in person to the Visiting Officer, when he comes to the village in which such person resides; and the Officer will make an entry in the register that such person is the owner and will add such other particulars as may be necessary. A list of those who have been registered as landowners in the village and of their holdings will be posted in the village for seven days, and afterwards an extract of the entry of each holding will be made to be handed to the owner. But before it is handed to the owner he must pay the amount of Crown rent fixed as due by him. If no rent is paid, the land will be forfeited to the Government without fail. ·

If there is any unsettled dispute about property, the name of the person in actual possession will be registered, and he must pay the Crown rent, but an extract of an entry in the register will not be issued until the Squatters' Board has ascertained that the person in possession is the legal owner and the Board's decision has been approved by me. In that case an extract will be issued to him, and he will be permitted to re- main in possession. But should the Board decide that the property is really not his property, the Crown rent paid by him will be refunded, and the person who is ad- judged by the Board to be the person who should pay the rent, and who is approved as such by me, must forthwith pay the rent due. All you owners of land must report all the land in your possession. Should it be found at any time that any land owned by any person has not been reported, it will be treated as Government land. A sarvey will shortly be made of the whole of the Leased Territory, so that the boundaries of the various holdings may be clearly known; and any cases of neglect to report on the part of owners of land will be easily discovered, and will involve forfeiture of the property to Government. Do not say that I have not warned you. The Crown rent including all charges fixed for the present is given below. You must all without exception obey. Do not be disobedient. A special proclamation.

(i.)

For land draining in a southerly direction to the sea between Lyemun Point on the east and the pier in the bay west of Lai Chi Kok on the west per half mau or portion thereof as follows:-

(a.) For first class land 25 cents, or at the rate of $3.30 per acre

per annum.

(B.)

for second class land 20 cents, or at the rate of $2.64 per acre per annum.

(c.) For third class land 10 cents, or at the rate of $1.32 per acre

per annum.

(ii.) For all land (except land draining in a southerly direction to the sea between Lyemun Point on the east and the pier in the bay west of Lai Chi Kok on the west) per half mau or portion thereof as follows:-

(a.) First class land 15 cents, or at the rate of $1.98 per acre

per annum.

--

(b.) Second class land 10 cents, or at the rate of $1.32 per acre

(c.)

per annum.

Third class land 5 cents, or at the rate of 66 cents per acre

per annum.

The above scale of Crown rent may be altered.

When the survey has been completed permanent certificates of titles will be issued. If anyone has been forcibly deprived of his land or been fraudulently induced to sell land at a low price, he may present a petition to the District Officer if he lives north of the Kowloon range of hills, or if he lives south of it to the Registrar-General or the Visiting Officer, to be forwarded to the Squatters' Board for enquiry.

Dated 12th day of July, 1899.

23733.

SIR,

(No. 204.)

No. 236.

GOVERNOR SIR H. A. BLAKE to MR. CHAMBERLAIN.

(Received September 4, 1899.)

[Answered by No. 247.]

Government House, Hong Kong, July 31, 1899. IN continuation of my despatch, No. 53, of the 10th March last, I have the honour to forward, for your information, copy of a further correspondence with the Government of India relative to the proposed survey of the New Territory, from which you will observe that arrangements have practically been completed for the work to be undertaken by a survey party which may be expected to arrive in Hong Kong in about three months' time.

2. The terms suggested by the Indian Government appear to be very reasonable, the salaries and allowances of the party amounting to only $15,000 per annum, which is considerably below the Director of Public Works' estimate contained in his memoran- dum forwarded in my despatch under reference. To this sum must of course be added cost of passages, rent of quarters, offices, and other contingencies.

3. I have, as you will observe from the enclosures this despatch, accepted the offer of the Indian Government, and I have to request authority to incur the necessary expenditure, which, if the work can be completed in a year, should not exceed $35,000.

have, &c.,

HENRY A. BLAKE,

Enclosure 1 in No. 236.

Governor, &c.

T. W. HOLDERNESS, Esq., C.S.I., Secretary to the Government of India, to the Honourable the COLONIAL SECRETARY, Hong Kong.

(No. 917/61/2.)

Land Surveys.

SIR,

Simla, April 29, 1899. I AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, No. 13, dated the 10th March, 1889, regarding the proposed survey of the territory in Kwang Tung Province, leased by Great Britain from China.

2. In reply I am to forward a copy of a note dated the 13th April, 1889, by the Surveyor-General of India, in which he states what the constitution and cost of a party suited to make the required survey should be. The Government of India will be happy to place such a party at the disposal of His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong, if volunteers from the Survey of India can be obtained. The Surveyor-General does not anticipate a difficulty on this point, but it is a contingency which he thinks it desirable

to mention.

8. As regards the pay and allowances which should be granted to the survey officers to be deputed, I am to say that the Government of India would slightly modify the proposals of the Surveyor-General. They think the following scale wil be found suitable and sufficient.

1 extra Assistant-Superintendent-pay

Charge allowance

Rs.

300 per mensem.

50

Burma allowance

50

"

Deputation allowance

60

"

Travelling allowance at Burma rates

(about)

135

595

• No. 93.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TTTC.O. 882

سلسل

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO